Bleach It Just Takes Time

What I'm back? Kinda. This time I'm only doing a oneshot, kinda. It turned into a two part thing. I have a bad reputation for not finishing up long fics. So hopefully I can still finish this one. Especially considering how much I love Bleach and this pairing.

**It Just Takes Time**

He stared at her motionless form. She had been like that for days, as had he until just a day or so ago. She was beautiful even near death; the captain of the fourth division assured him that she was going to be fine after a few more days, at least physically. She had nightmares often where she would toss and turn and talk in her slumber, occasionally re-opening her wounds in the process.

He had no idea what it would be like after she woke up. Would she even want to remain a Shinigami?

It would be his fault if she resigned and locked herself in a dark room forever. He was unable to stop this from happening. If he would have noticed everything sooner, then his 'bed-wetter Momo' wouldn't be unconscious, and that bastard, Aizen, wouldn't be somewhere out there in Soul Society causing more chaos.

Hitsugaya felt like punching something. More specifically the man who caused all of this, the one who was making her suffer. But he had already had his chance. And what made it worse was that even though Aizen wasn't on his list of 'most favorite people', he had still trusted the man. Who would have thought that Aizen of all people would do something like this? Especially to her.

He stared down at her some more and sighed. What if she wanted revenge? She could get hurt even more. It would be near impossible to keep her from going after him if she really wanted to. He had already tried to keep her from harm on several occasions, but has failed badly each time. Hitsugaya tore his gaze from her finding himself unworthy to even be in the same room. He had broken a promise.

She felt herself slowly regaining conscious. The pain in her stomach was great, but it felt as if another pain was greater. She couldn't figure out where she was or what was going on. Hinamori cracked her eyes open and tried to adjust to the new light. It was quite blurry and all she could see was the fuzzy outline of a short person sitting in a chair next to her. Confused, she blinked a few more times, making her vision become clearer each time.

"Sh-Shirou-chan?" she spoke, barely audible.

She watched him snap back to reality and turn to her, eyes wide in relief. It looked like he had been having quite the internal battle...

"Shirou-chan...Wh-Where are we? What's goi-" she started trying to sit up.

"Hinamori lay down. You shouldn't be straining yourself now." Hitsugaya interrupted her and gently pushed her back down. "Let me go get Unohana-taichou. She wanted to check up on you when you awoke" he said as he began to stand, only to be stopped by a soft, feminine hand.

"No, wait!" Hinamori sounded desperate. "What's going on? Why am I here?" she questioned, staring at him intensely.

Hitsugaya's eyes softened, "You don't remember?" he said softly looking at her hand holding on to his arm.

She thought a bit and replied with a hesitant no.

"I'm glad. It's not something that should be talked about now anyways," the captain of the 10th division said before turning to leave once more. "Now let me go get Uhohana-taichou."

Hitsugaya was just about to slide open the door when Unohana ran in along with Isane. "Hitsugaya-taichou! Help us make room. The other captains just brought in several Shinigami that need to be tended to now!" the 4th division captain ordered.

The white haired captain nodded his head and began to move some chairs off to the side, as the other two women moved a couple tables.

"Other Shinigami?" Hinamori softly spoke, trying to sit up again. "What happened? Who got hurt?" she questioned, as confused as ever.

The 4th division captain sighed as she continued to prepare for the new patients. "One of the intruders is severely injured. Along with Byakuya-taichou, and Abarai-fukutaichou. Rukia-sama may need some attention as well." Unohana said. "But you shouldn't worry about that now Hinamori-chan. You need to rest."

"What about Aizen-taichou? He's alright, right?" Hinamori questioned as she looked at the medical specialist.

The room went silent and the others glanced at each other, searching for the right thing to say. But it was too late. Hinamori's eyes had already widened in realization as she remembered what had happened. The room remained silent; no one knew what to say. Aizen had been an idol to her. Her reason to live. And now he was nothing but a backstabbing, traitor who had used her and everyone else for his own personal gain.

Even before the tears began to flow, Hitsugaya was already at her side. He knew this had been coming; it was just a matter of time. Hinamori, who was now sitting up in her bed, started to shake. The captain quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, being careful not to re-open any wounds.

"It's alright." was the best he could come up with. He had never been good at these kinds of things.

The room's other occupants slowly made their way out of the room, mentioning something about setting up camp in the 4th division's office. The door slid shut with a slight click.

"Shirou-chan. W-why? Why did he do it?" she whispered between sobs.

"I have no idea. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." he replied softly, "You should worry more about yourself right now. Calm down and get some rest."

There was a long moment of silence and Hitsugaya thought that she had finally fallen back asleep until she said in an angry sort of voice, "That couldn't of been Aizen-taichou! He never would have done something like that! Someone has to be tricking us!" Hinamori began to push away from the captain and tried to stand up only to find that she couldn't.

She glanced over at Shirou-chan expecting to see him holding her down and keeping her from standing, but instead found him looking down at her feet with an odd expression on his face. It was one she had never seen on him before, which made it even harder to read.

"I know it might be hard," he spoke, breaking the silence, "but have you ever thought that there's more to the afterlife than him." the captain paused, waiting for a reaction. After receiving none, he continued, "We were played by him. Used as he deemed fit. And then tossed aside like nothing. But that doesn't mean we can't bounce back..."

She remained silent, her face blank. It was so much to take in, and little of it was seeping through. She didn't know what to think. What if Hitsugaya had just been setting this whole thing up and Aizen-taichou really was just an illusion? Then again, he was wounded after all. Had her captain done that to him? And the other Shinigami as well? Maybe Shirou-chan really was telling the truth. After all, she had known him since she could remember. She even recalled him saying something about protecting her with his life...

'Protecting... That's right! I had to break a barrier when I left my room. Was that set up by Shirou-chan? If I remember correctly, it had his spirit energy written all over it...' Hinamori thought.

She was about to question the captain when she felt the bed shift and saw him begin to walk out of the room. "Shirou-chan where are you-"

"Go to sleep Hinamori." he interrupted, before turning to walk out of the room. The sliding door slid shut once more.

She continued to stare at the door not knowing what to do. 'It looked like he was crying..' she shook her head, 'Shirou-chan doesn't do that...' Hinamori frowned and laid back down. Staring at the ceiling, she attempted to sort out her thoughts and feelings, but soon fell into another restless sleep.

Hitsugaya made his way to the rooftop of the tenth division's headquarters trying his hardest to hold back tears. He was never one to go around showing emotion, but seeing his Bed Wetter Momo like this was killing him and he couldn't help but blame himself. He never wanted to see her cry.

The roof was a favorite spot of his. It was a place to sort out thoughts, and a place to relax. Just laying back and staring at the sky was a great stress reliever and he had often come here to avoid his paperwork. Though, Hitsugaya wasn't expecting to find someone else up here at a time like this.

"Oi, Matsumoto, don't you have some kind of work you should be doing?" he said out loud, his usual cocky grin plastered on his face.

The vice-captain jumped up startled. "T-taichou?" she quickly stood. "You're alright? You and Hinamori have had us all worried..." Rangiku said.

The mention of Hinamori brought the frown back to Hitsugaya's face. Without saying anything, he sat down where his vice-captain once was and stared down at the ground.

Seeing this Rangiku also frowned and took a seat next to her captain. "It must be hard...for the both of you..." she paused," No one ever suspected him. Aizen I mean. It was just kind of sudden. All this crazy talk of 'taking a seat in heaven' or whatever." Matsumoto looked at her captain, "Have you talked to her yet? Is she alright?"

Sighing, Hitsugaya laid back, putting his arms behind his head, and stared at the sky. "I've tried. I don't think she gets it yet. He meant so much to her. And still probably does." he said with a slight sound of irritation in his voice. 'Only if I was that important to her..' the captain thought and then frowned even more. Since when did he start to think like this? Was this jealousy? no...no…

Rangiku smiled softly, noticing her captain's change in emotion. "She'll come around eventually. Give her time. All we can do now is wait. There's no way to get to Aizen now as far as I know. So the best thing you can do for Hinamori is to be there for her when she needs you."

There was a long period of silence. Both were stuck in there own thoughts until Hitsugaya yawned and looked over at his vice-captain, "What were you doing up here anyways? You don't seem like the type that would sit on roofs all day.." he questioned, his classic smirk returning.

"You aren't the only one with stuff to think about," she said looking up at the clouds. Rangiku sighed heavily. 'Gin...Why? You would always leave without telling me where you were going...'

Hitsugaya chuckled," I've never seen you go around sighing and acting all serious either. But whatever, I won't ask. I guess we're all just kinda tense right now," he said before closing his eyes.

Rangiku found her smile returning; her captain was beginning to act like his old self again. She stood and stretched her arms. "Thank you taichou." she said as she left the rooftop.

He cracked one eye open and watched her leave. Sighing, Hitsugaya contemplated visiting Hinamori again, but figured it would be best to let her rest for now. 'She just needs time.' he kept telling himself. But he just couldn't get the image of her crying out of his mind. 'Aizen, that bastard...'

Like everyone else, I love reviews. Hopefully the next part will be up soon.


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Bleach, Drama, Romance